Canadian dogs, judges and handlers head to Westminster dog show seeking glory

Inuk, a snow-white 10-year-old from Caledon, Ont., heads into the competition as the top American Eskimo in Canada for 10 consecutive years. (Canadian Press photo)

Consider them the four-legged version of Team Canada.

More than 100 Canadian dogs compete this week at the venerable Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York, where carefully groomed pooches and pedigree canines will strut their stuff in a bid to be named best in show.

The homegrown competitors include record-holding champion Inuk, a snow-white 10-year-old from Caledon, Ont., who heads into the competition as the top American Eskimo in Canada for 10 consecutive years.

“When he walks in the ring he kind of (communicates): I’m here, so all eyes on me,” his owner, Sharon Robertson said of Inuk’s knack for performance.

This will be Inuk’s 10th appearance at Westminster, where he’s previously won eight best in breed titles and was awarded the title of “select dog” last year, for a second-place showing.

Robertson, who’s been showing American Eskimos for almost 20 years, says she knew he was a champion since she first saw him as a puppy.

“He was just one of those dogs that you spot an attitude, you spot — and it sounds dumb — but I call it, ‘It.’ It’s just a quality that every time you look in the box and see six puppies that’s the only dog you see. And that was Inuk,” said Robertson.

Canadians have had a solid track record at Westminster, the second-oldest continuous sporting event in the United States, after the Kentucky Derby.

Canuck dogs have won best in show at Madison Square Garden six times, most recently Miss P the beagle in 2015.

Miss P’s handler, Will Alexander, returns this year to show eight pooches from the United States and Canada.

“Your whole year, this is what you strive for, making your dogs look good for this show,” Alexander said as he prepared for the trip from his home in Milton, Ont.

Stenmark, who moved to California in 1975 after meeting her husband at a dog show in Michigan, will be the fourth Canadian to judge the category, and the second Canadian woman.

She spent many years as an exhibitor and breeder, cultivating a specialty in Dandie Dinmont terriers, but discovered an eye for judging in the 1970s.

“I was watching this judge do a terrible job with the breeds and I can remember saying to myself, ‘I can do as good a job as that,’” said Stenmark with a chuckle.

But it’s not easy to be a judge. Qualifications require applicants to have bred dogs, produced champions, judged apprentice shows, and completed exams on anatomy and specific breed standards.

Stenmark, who now lives in the Sierra Foothills, says she’s licensed to judge about 130 breeds, including all breeds in the sporting, hound, and terrier groups.

Generally speaking, she’ll be on the lookout at Westminster for good breeding stock.

“When you’re faced with two lovely dogs before you, you think to yourself, ‘I would be happy to have that dog at my house’ and that’s the one you choose. It’s simply judging the quality of the dog and its abilities to reproduce and improve the breed with every litter,” she said.